Blue And Green
by MarauderWitch
Summary: Tonks must leave her home in order to go to an Auror mission across the country, but what once was the highlight of her month becomes one of the hardest things to do when there is a toddler in the game. One-shot. Post-DH. AU.


**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** A little something for Teddy's birthday! ^^ Tried it a bit different from my usual style and I really liked the result. What did you guys think? Reviewers get to babysit Teddy for a whole weekend so Remus and Tonks can love each other. ;)

~Disclaimer: All the characters and the Harry Potter world belong to J. K. Rowling!~

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**BLUE AND GREEN**

It would all start with anxiety and anticipation, her old acquaintances from Auror missions. Dora loved the thrill that would invariably fill her when she knew that a particularly exciting one was coming. The mysterious works of her inner clock woke her up on that morning hours before needed and she also felt the butterflies in her stomach. She let her head fall to the side and took in the rare sight of her restful husband. Remus had always been a light sleeper and she could count on her fingers the few times she had been able to wake up before him. His freckled with grey, brown hair was hiding his eyes somewhat and with the lightest touch she could muster, she pushed them upwards, but only to see them all fall back to where they were and she let her hand fall upon his, making her mind to watch him sleep and not go back to sleep at least for a few seconds. Seconds became minutes and minutes became hours of her watching him rest and it had had a calming effect upon her like very few had and come to think of it, her son was the only other being that managed to relax her on that level. However, Teddy chose that precise moment to tell her that she should not be relaxing at all for he was definitely hungry.

She was dumbfounded when Remus opened his eyes, looking straight into hers and smiled, telling her that she would not want to be late before breathing deeply and kissing the tip of her nose, tossing the duvet away. She questioned him if he had been up, but he would allege that _technically_, he was not up, just awoken. Smart-arse. When she asked for how long, he would have the nerve to answer that it was for a good while before trailing off and enquiring if she wanted him to fetch the boy. She shook her head, denying his offer and sliding her legs out the bed.

Within a minute, whilst her husband had gone down to get started on their breakfast, she had entered the nursery and got the crying boy in her arms. "There, Teddy. Shh, mummy's here." She sat on the armchair and ran her hands through his red hair. Not long after, he had calmed down in his mother's arms as she began to breastfeed him. And that would certainly be one of the things she would miss the most. Not that she would not miss just sitting at the table and have breakfast with both of them, drink tea and eat some toasts and eggs, but being a mother was definitely what she missed more when she had to go on Auror missions that would take her out of the town for more than a day. Being able to sleep all night long and not waking up with a loud cry somehow just did not seem normal to her anymore.

She would focus on the excitement and the perspective of the imminent mission to take her mind out of it, but when she was in the toilet, disguising herself right before leaving and she looked back to see that her boy who had been looking so much like his father the previous instant was now morphing his eyes from Remus's blue to the green she had chosen to use, saying without words that he wanted his mummy made her feel nothing less than guilty for loving her job so much. So, she ignored everything she still had to do and just got him in her arms, holding him close and feeling his little body pressed against hers, his tiny arms trying to embrace her torso even though they could barely reach her sides.

And she forced herself to memorise every bit of him, the feeling of having her boy in her arms and at that moment, she could not understand how she would be able to live a whole day without him, let alone a week as it was planned. So, she put him down, tapped his bum lightly and told him to go after his daddy, who had just come out of the bedroom and she watched Remus get him before resuming her disguise. Another second and she would have cancelled the whole operation.

She had to blink away a tear when, already at the door, her boy insisted upon kissing her cheek. He loved her and yes, she loved him too and that was why she kissed her husband and vanished into thin air the next instant. She was doing it for him, for her family, so they could live in a better world. And no, she could not say for sure if she would ever see either of them again because she could not ignore the fact that there was always a chance that she would not return, however small, every morning when she said good-bye there was the doubt if that had been the last time even though she tried not to think about it since along with it would always come the certainty of doing whatever she could for him to live in a better world.

The days went by at the countryside, each one seeming to go even slower than the one before, she was certain that her watch hated her. At night, after stakeouts, she was invariably surrounded by her colleagues, who she liked and trusted like few, though she could not help but to feel alone. There was this hole in her chest that neither of them could fill, however hard they tried, the only thing that would make it slightly better was to watch her baby boy in that photograph, imitating his mother and morphing his hair to all the colours she could think of, herself in the photo laughing cheerfully upon seeing her changer up rainbow-haired boy.

Finally at the fifth day, they were freed to go home. Stopping robberies and preventing murders would always bring a satisfaction, but not as great as the thought of at long last seeing that boy one more time. It was the middle of the afternoon and if she left then she would only arrive late at night and Teddy would most likely be asleep, but all she could think of was seeing him again. She did not need a specific memory, his giggling face was enough to produce an incredibly powerful Patronus with a message for him that would need to cross half the country. "Mummy is coming home."

Dora jumped on her broom, forcing it to ride as fast as it could, until she could feel the whole wood trembling with speed, but she could not find it in herself to care. The strong wind upon her face, the shivering from the cold was nothing to her, but she hated herself for having needs, why did she really have to eat? Or use the toilet? Maybe one stop would not kill her and so she tossed the sandwich inside as fast as she could, jumping back on her broom as soon as she had swollen the last bite.

Her heart seemed to want to get out of her chest the instant she saw that little blue bungalow, the flickering orange light of the burning fireside in their drawing-room made her laugh out of sheer contentment. She loved that small plaque that held three inked hands around their family name, the one they had done just a month before, the one she had passed by only too fast to see. She landed near the door, leaving a path of dirt and sending pebbles all over the grass Remus maintained perfectly green and healthy.

The door opened at once, her broomstick and her rucksack lost somewhere in between. All her eyes saw was that boy already toddling towards her and calling for his mummy. "Yes, baby, mummy's home." She held him impossibly closer, her eyes falling shut before she received a kiss from the most important man in her life on her temple. "Welcome home, love." She wrapped an arm around Remus's waist before kissing the boy's face.

"Saved the world?"

"Made it a better place."

"That's good enough for us."

Soon, Teddy was nuzzling on her chest, yawning and taking solace on her protective arms around him. Only then she realised that it was far too late for him to be up. She could not help but to grin when her husband informed her that her son had promptly refused any attempt he had made on trying to put him to sleep, that Teddy had forced himself to stay up when he knew that his mummy was arriving. But it was not a problem, she would put him in bed, she would _gladly _put him in bed. She loved that ritual, putting his pyjamas on, feeding him one last time before sleep: yes, she had missed just how much she knew she would, being his source of not only food, but also life and then letting him say good night to all the toys, holding the pink plush wolf to keep him safe in the dark, getting under the covers, reading him Babbitty Rabbitty And Her Cackling Stump: no, he had not fallen asleep when she finished. Again? It was all right, she would read it for him as much as he wanted her to.

All the while her loving, loyal husband would be beside her. It still seemed unreal how she had been able to end up with him. Finally, her little Teddy bear had drifted to the land of dreams and each of his parents laid a kiss on his forehead as if to keep the bad dreams away. Remus caught her hand and she intertwined their fingers, they walked silently, with a fond smile upon their faces out of their son's nursery and into their bedroom. Every step worked as a slow teasing build-up that reminded her just how much she wanted that man beside her. They did not share a word, a glance or a more intimate touch than hands linked together, none of which were necessary for them to tell precisely what was inside the other's mind or what was happening in their bodies on that matter. The minute their door was closed his lips were upon hers, her body pressed by his against the door, her hands all over him. Oh, Merlin! Teddy had not been the only one she so badly had missed.


End file.
